The Hard Aches – Mess (New Music)

The Hard Aches have some good news for us today! The Adelaide indie punk duo will be releasing their sophomore album Mess on April 13th via Anchorhead.

Produced by Sam Johnson of Holes & Corners studio and mastered by William Bowden, 12 track Mess will include vocal features by Camp Cope’s Georgia Maq, The Bennies’ Craig Selak and Jeff Rosenstock.

To celebrate the good news, The Hard Aches (Ben David and Alex Upton) have released the album’s title track. In Ben’s words, “Mess” ‘comes from a place of hope, a feeling that everything is going to be okay regardless of how hard it might feel sometimes’. He considers the track to be a reminder to recharge, versus feel like you’ve burned out.

According to Ben, the focus on mental health ‘in a hopeful and positive light’ will be continued across the album. Ben affirms that Mess is ‘sonically (and creatively) the best representation of us as a band, the album we’ve been working towards creating through years of touring and making music.’

“We’re not burning out”

In a ‘perfect little mess to the west of Melbourne’, title track “Mess” is a sharing of tension in a relationship, seeming like it’s ending. It’s held together by insisted assertion that ‘we’re not burning out’. The duo’s warm sound and genuine voice captures a call to be trusted, so they may ride out the bad times together.

As well as the album news, The Hard Aches have announced a national tour, with Antonia and the Lazy Susans and Sincerely, Grizzly. With more details on that below.

Creator and caretaker of Depth Mag, Kel uses her superpowers of empathy, word-weaving, and feeling everything deeply, to immerse herself in music before returning to reality to write about her experience with it.